Netflix Playlist: Extreme Couponing

Extreme Couponing. Have you heard of this? This show is like a companion piece to the show Hoarders. It’s shows the rush of adrenaline and lead up to the big hoard.

Extreme coupon-ers are more passionate and dedicated to their craft than I ever have been or ever will be about anything. They have binders full of coupons, have subscriptions to coupon services, hound their families for their coupons, and even dumpster dive for them. They then spend hours upon hours cutting them out. They spend time planning their shopping trips. They spend even more time actually shopping. Then, they spend even MORE time bringing their items home and organizing them.

Every extreme coupon-er does not fit into the above mold, but all of them are obsessive. That’s what makes them EXTREEEEEEEME.
So many of these people have more spaghetti sauce and deodorant than anyone will ever need.

It’s fascinating to watch one or two episodes of this show. It’s brilliant. You watch people plan, obsess, stress, and reach for their best hauls yet. You witness something truly awe-inspiring when a customer walks out of the store with 10 grocery carts full of food, and three dollars in their pocket that the store just paid them to take it all. That is insane.

After the first few shows though, I think something starts to sink in. At least it did with me. Perhaps it’s because I just had a tour of my local food bank. It became very uncomfortable to watch people load up their carts. Knowing that all of those items are going to fill the coffers of their home stashes.

A part of me has no issue with it. I can’t wait to watch their follow-up show on Hoarders when it has all gone south and they have teeny tiny paths through the 20-year-supply of mouthwash. Another part of me wishes that they were donating half of it to food banks, or shelters where it will be of great use to many people. Then I think about it, and the hours these people spend on this project, I mean, they earn all 22 tubs of Crisco they have purchased for pennies. You know?

Melissa, known to the world as the foremost Glitter Technician, is the mother of two beautiful children and has two beautiful buckteeth. She currently spends her time making all kinds of quirky items and selling them on Etsy in her shop called Bucktooth Mama. You can find more of her writing on her blog of the same name Bucktooth Mama.